Facilities Manager for ZenithOptimedia

Background

Maxwell Stephens was approached by ZenithOptimedia Group, a leading global media agency, to recruit an experienced Facilities Manager for its offices on Percy Street and Whitfield Street in London.

The role supported a workplace population of approximately 600 employees across two key sites and called for a Facilities Management professional able to hold standards across operations, compliance, service delivery and workplace experience.

ZenithOptimedia, now known as Zenith, is part of Publicis Groupe's media network.

The Challenge

ZenithOptimedia needed more than a day-to-day operational Facilities Manager.

The successful candidate had to combine technical FM knowledge with leadership, commercial awareness and a continuous-improvement mindset, taking responsibility for two busy office environments, leading the facilities team, maintaining Health & Safety compliance, controlling budgets and supporting business continuity.

The role also required someone who could respond to changing business needs, keep disruption down during workplace changes and find opportunities to improve efficiency and sustainability.

Agency offices are demanding ground for Facilities Management. Occupancy is dense, hours are long and internal churn is constant, so the FM is dealing with reconfiguration and reactive work at the same time as the planned programme. The pressure falls on responsiveness, and a manager who cannot keep both moving quickly loses credibility with the business early.

The Market for This Role

Our 2026 salary benchmarks put Facilities Manager roles at around £40,000 to £65,000, depending on location, sector and scope.

A two-site office for around 600 people sits at the larger end of single-manager roles. The Facilities Manager has to hold standards in both buildings at once, which favours candidates who have run multi-site or high-occupancy corporate offices before.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted recruitment campaign focused on professionals with proven experience managing large corporate office environments.

We prioritised candidates with a strong background in:

• Multi-site Facilities Management
• Team leadership
• Health & Safety compliance
• Budget management
• Office relocations and workplace change
• Maintenance and service delivery
• Sustainability and environmental initiatives

The sustainability requirement narrowed the field more than the others. Plenty of Facilities Managers support environmental work when asked; far fewer have led it, and leading it calls for someone willing to take on an agenda that sits outside the core remit and carries no immediate operational reward.

Through a detailed selection process, we placed a Facilities Manager who combined the technical expertise the role needed with a leadership style and cultural fit suited to ZenithOptimedia.

Why This Placement Worked

The placement gave ZenithOptimedia a Facilities Manager able to balance the demands of a busy corporate environment with compliance, operational efficiency, employee experience and continuous improvement.

It also shows the value of recruiting an FM who contributes beyond building management. The sustainability work is the clearest example: an environmental management standard needs an operational owner who understands how the buildings actually run, and appointing someone capable of taking that on turned a compliance exercise into part of the day job.

If you are recruiting a Facilities Manager to improve workplace operations, compliance and employee experience, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach candidates who bring more than the minimum. Get in touch with our team.